(1) After section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) insertâ
â58A Eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc

(1) A person commits an offence whoâ

(a) elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has beenâ

(i) a member of Her Majestyâs forces,

(ii) a member of any of the intelligence services, or

(iii) a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b) publishes or communicates any such information.

(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their action.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liableâ

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine, or to both;

(b) on summary convictionâ

(i) in England and Wales or Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;

(ii) in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.

(4) In this section âthe intelligence servicesâ means the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ (within the meaning of section 3 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (c. 13)).

(5) Schedule 8A to this Act contains supplementary provisions relating to the offence under this section.â.

(2) In the application of section 58A in England and Wales in relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) the reference in subsection (3)(b)(i) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

It'll be used to stop the rent a mob scum from taking pictures of the rozzers on duty at any stop the war/pro terrorist demo's, of course it'll also stop any ordinary well mannered citizen from photographing police brutality on any Countryside Alliance march

Saying that, whilst collecting for the RBL at a London train station, I did notice that the Police and the Community Police would stop and interview people who were using a camera in the station.

Click to expand...

There is some bylaw making it illegal to take photographs on the transport system. The law has been in place for donkey's years but it was originally intended for public safety reasons.

Many moons ago (late 1980's) I had a contract to photograph on the London Underground. Despite the photography being for LRT I was unable to use a tripod or flash equipment and had to carry a letter of permission from a high-up manager. I then still had to seek permission from the Station Managerâs of every Tube station I visited.

As for this new law, it seems so badly worded that it could easily be abused.